Sunday, January 29, 2017

Why Snail Mail Is The Best Thing Ever { + Why You Should Send It}

Forgive me for sounding like an old lady, but it's true- everything these days is electronic. We communicate over text and Skype. People read e-books as opposed to physical books. Business is done over email. Schoolwork is typed instead of hand-written. You can order food online, grab a ride online, and learn basically anything with the press of a few buttons. I'm the first to agree, technology is great. But I have to say, there is a piece of hard-copy communication that I really wish would live on- snail mail. Real, physical letters. As much as I love texting and emailing, there's really nothing like opening your mailbox and seeing a letter from a friend, being able to open it and hold it in your hands and keep it. It's one of the most fun, special things in the world. I am thoroughly convinced that it should never go out of style. Trust me- if you write someone a letter, you are literally going to make their day! Still not convinced? Here are nine reasons why snail mail is the best thing ever.

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1. IT'S MORE PERSONAL

Don't get me wrong- I love getting emails and texts from friends. But letters are honestly so much more personal because you know that the person who sent it to you had to put in more effort than just punching a few keys.

2. YOU CAN STUFF THE ENVELOPES FULL OF GLITTER

I highly recommend it. A few months ago, I glitter-bombed my dear friend Aaliyah, and it was pretty fantastic. I apologize again, Aaliyah. DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS THAT MUCH GLITTER.

3. THE CREATIVITY IS LIMITLESS

I'm not the most artsy person. Y'all know that. Crafting has never really been my thing. But when it comes to letter writing, I LOVE IT! Like, there are so many fun things that you can do. You can decorate the envelopes or outline the letter with cute quotes or drawings. You can add stickers or glitter or decals or awesome things that you printed from Pinterest or Tumblr. I love scrolling through Pinterest and getting ideas for how to decorate letters- it's so much fun!

4. YOU HAVE AN EXCUSE TO BUY TONS OF ADORABLE STATIONARY

If you have never bought notecards from Target's dollar section, are you actually living your life? I think not. I have a stationary addiction and I am proud of it.

5. IT'S SUPER FUN TO SURPRISE PEOPLE

I really love randomly sending something to a friend and surprising them. Letters aren't super common these days, so it's fun to send something to a friend who isn't expecting it!

6. IT GIVES YOU A CHANCE TO JUST SIT DOWN AND WRITE

I love journaling, and letter writing can be comparable. It's nice to have a chance to sit down, empty your head, and write something by hand. It's so relaxing!

7. IT BRIGHTENS SOMEONE'S MAILBOX

Let's be honest- mailboxes can be pretty boring, filled with bills and ads and junk. Let's make checking the mail fun again!

8. LETTERS ARE A GREAT KEEPSAKE

Personally, I never throw away a letter. I love having something from a friend to keep and look back on. It's so special!

9. YOU CAN INCLUDE FUN THINGS

Remember those friendship bracelets that we all made back in sixth grade? Why not get back into those? Over the past couple months, I've started making bracelets again, and it's been super fun. You don't have to limit it to bracelets, though- you can include pretty much anything that will fit inside of an envelope!

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p.s.

I published this post about ten minutes ago, but I'm popping back in because I have just been made aware of the most amazing thing, and it needs to be known by all. The fabulous Lisa just sent me the link to InCoWriMo- International Correspondence Writing Month. Apparently, InCoWriMo takes place every February, and challenges its participants to hand-write and deliver/mail one letter, card, note, etc. every day. I honestly think that this sounds fabulous, and I'm going to give it a try. Even if I don't manage to deliver one every day, I want to try to write twenty eight letters or notes this month. Obviously, you should join me. Are you going to accept the challenge?

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So, what are you waiting for?? There are so many reasons to send snail mail! Whether it's a birthday card, a Valentine, or just because, go write a letter- I dare you. ♥

DUDE I TOTALLY WANT TO DO THIS SNAIL MAIL FEBRUARY CHALLENGE THING. o.o I think I might. I'm not sure if I have enough stamps (or enough people to write to), but even if I can do a couple a week that would be awesome. This is such a good idea! Thank you, Grace. :D

YES. I made and sent over 20 snail mail cards to my friends a few weeks ago. It was great for me to sit down and write a personal note to them, and tell them why they were important to me. The best bit was their responses - especially when they said it brightened their day!

I love snail mail so much! (Except stamps can get expensive...) I'm planning to write a ton of Valentine's Day letters to my friends and to the younger girls at my church, telling them all the things I like about them. :)

This is awesome and I agree with everything! The biggest block for me writing snail mail to friends is that I either see them once a week or chat with them and I don't know what else to say in a letter lol. I also am afraid of writing a letter that's a bit too boring (like, really basic small talk) or writing one that's too personal because I can't think of what to say. Any advice?

I have the same problem! Whenever I write letters, I get stumped because I talk to these people in person or over text all the time, so I don't have anything to say. A lot of times I just write about something completely obscure and hope for the best. XD

I loved this! Snail mail is so awesome -- I hardly ever use my emial. I have a pen pal and it's so fun! I love thinking of cool things to send with my letter each time. But I fail most of the time and she just gets a letter with a horribly decorated envelope. ;P

EEK YES SNAIL MAIL IS SO MUCH FUUUN. xD I should send it more often haha. One time someone sent me a snail mail message in Morse Code and I still haven't figure out for sure who it was yet haha. :P (pretty sure Julia was involved though so *stalking mode engaged*)

Yes, I completely agree. Sending letters is so much more fun. I recently started writing to my penpal again and it's been a blast. I never thought of the glitter thing though. I might try that sometime:) Great post, Grace-Sarahforeverchanged13.blogspot.com

I love snail mail so much and I have several pen pals whom I mainly just keep in contact with through letters since it can be a lot more fun and they're so busy. I love messaging and the internet because it keeps me in contact with my far away friends but who doesn't enjoy getting a letter in the mail?!

Snail mail is definitely one of the best things in life -it's so simple to do, and yet something that means so much! I love snail mailing, although I've never sent glitter, and I actually kind of want to do this now, but I'm so worried it would hit someone on a bad day and they would have to vacuum when they just wanted to cry, so I'll probably never do it... hahaha...I think I'm totally going to join the Incowrimo!!! Not through the site, because I rarely do that, but "on my own", inspired by you :). I can think of 18 cards or letters that I was already planning on writing during the next few weeks, and the other ten will come, I'm sure... I always send a little thank you note with any Etsy orders I get, so those could count too, I'm sure, haha :).

Yes, snail mail is amazing! I love sending random, unexpected letters and cards (and getting them too!); even though I'm not great at remembering to do it, haha. Like you said, it's so much more personal!I think I may challenge myself to write more letters in February, too; not every day, I don't think I could commit to that, but at least one a week. The winter can be kind of a dreary time, and I'd love to brighten up some of my friend's days. :) Thanks for the inspiration!

Oh. My. Gosh. I'm so happy to have found this post because along with the eighteen people above me, I love snail mail. XD It's hard to be consistent with it because about 1/10 people will actually write me back, but that's okay. It spreads joy, maybe even to the postal carriers? perhaps? XD Because I love making cute little envelopes out of brown paper or wallpaper samples and also funky arty postcards.

I'm going to have to attempt this InCoWriMo thing, even if it means sending 2-3 a week. YAY Thank you for sharing! jeniquablog.wordpress.com

I looovvvvve snail mail. When I first started writing, my cousin and I were crazy pen-palls and sent each other an average of a letter every two weeks for almost two years. I have such wonderful memories of that time, and getting a completely stuffed envelope (it always required two stamps). We had to switch to email eventually, but we still will write a letter every now and then for old time's sake.